Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards was at the White House Thursday pushing D.C. for Laura, Delta, Zeta, and Ida disaster relief. He touted a US House-approved disaster relief package, saying it won’t make Southwest and Southeast Louisiana whole, but it is a good start.
“I can’t say that this will fully take care of our needs related to 2020 and it is very, very clear that for the 2021 storm, Ida, whatever is in this first instrument will be a down payment to get started on recovery,” said Edwards.
The bill contains 28.6 billion in disaster relief aid that will be allocated amongst a number of different states and federal agencies, covering a wide range of natural disasters.
Edwards said we don’t know exactly how much Louisiana will receive but it won’t be enough to cover the extensive costs we face after two historic hurricane seasons. He intends to keep pushing for more aid once this bill is approved.
“We believe that the unmet housing needs for Ida alone in Louisiana will be about 2.5 billion dollars,” said Edwards. “The current estimate for the public assistance (for Ida) is going to be about 2.2 billion dollars.”
Edwards said well over 700,000 people have applied for FEMA individual assistance.
Southwest Louisiana still hasn’t received a Congressional supplemental assistance bill more than a year after Laura hit.
The disaster assistance package faces a major hurdle: Senate Republicans say they won’t vote for it unless Democrats detach it from a proposal to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government through December 3rd.
